When “Jimbo” Marston took over Uncle Andy’s Digest, he didn’t quite expect the long days. The long nights. The fact he’d have to play salesman/humorist/graphic designer/publisher . . . and then some. 

But 7 years later, he wouldn’t have it any other way. Seriously.

Also, there may be a Bat Cave in the office. That can’t hurt.

Name: Jim “Jimbo” Marston

Age: Mondays, 33. Fridays, 63! To me, age is just a number (it’s just that some days the number seems bigger). I’m actually 50 years old.

Town: Mechanic Falls most nights, 9 Grove St. in Auburn at deadline.

Married/single/relationship: Blissfully married for 20.5 of the 21 years (hey, we all have rough patches) to a beautiful woman, Sue Marston, with four incredible adult children: Jamie, Kayla, Courtney and Tanner. The youngest two are draining all our assets while in college. Anticipating the joys of grandfatherhood in March, Jamie is expecting a boy. (Finally, a college education I won’t have to fund!)

Occupation: I don’t know. Let’s see . . . The first week of the month I’m a salesman. The second week I’m a humorist. Week three, I’m a graphic designer/copywriter/marketing consultant, and if I’m still standing week four, I’m a publisher. Seriously though, I’ve been an owner at Uncle Andy’s Digest since 2002 and, like any small business owner, wearing whatever hat is required at the time.

How did Uncle Andy’s get its start? UAD was started in mid-1996 with the idea of combining the best parts of other highly successful publications: Reader’s Digest, People Magazine and the Bible. We started by selling display ads to local businesses, publishing pictures of local people (famous and not so famous), then surrounding them with great one-liners, short humorous quips, stories and tall tales (all of which are true).

Whatever happened to Uncle Andy? After retiring we heard he either moved to Las Vegas and became a dealer at a casino or started selling World Book Encyclopedias again. We tried to keep him locked in the attic, but he kept finding his way out.

What made you get involved in Uncle Andy’s Digest? I wanted to be my own boss. Ha! After a career of 20 years at Penmor Lithographers, I began looking to own my own business (what was I thinking?). I discovered that UAD was a good fit. Big Gare, a previous owner of UAD, approached me and said, “Hey, why don’t you buy us out?” I later learned he made me that offer after pulling an all-nighter.  THAT should have been a red flag! Foolish me. . .  I thought about it and I said, “Why not?” The rest, as they say, is history!

Where does Uncle Andy’s get its material? In the Bat Cave – of course. It’s where we hide all of our most precious stuff: our first Apple 2-E computer, our dot matrix printer (which we just retired last year) and other top secret stuff I can’t mention. Almost daily, Tom (Hill, Internet specialist, social media mogul and head doughnut taste-tester) and I gear up in our spelunking gear and descend into Jimbo’s hideaway and dig up the funniest stuff we can find. But, honestly, we do have regulars who submit fun stuff to us every month.

Is there a threshold? You must be this funny to get into the digest? Oh yes, we have the highest standards! Only people who have a five-minute “comic stand-up” video on YouTube are selected for publication. And we’re always looking for new stuff. Feel free to write your submission on the back of a 5 dollar bill and send it to me immediately!

Do readers ever tell you something has bombed? I change my email address almost weekly, does that answer your question? Seriously, every time you publish something humorous it’s a risk. Sometimes it may not be as funny as we first thought. But we do consider ourselves a family magazine, so we’re very sensitive to keeping it clean and staying neutral.

Is Uncle Andy’s Digest the most fun office ever? Well, with the exception of the bat-infested cave, it’s a pretty cool office. We do occasionally host an indoor office soccer tournament and then jump into the hot tub for recovery. Tim (Rucker, head salesperson, customer service and Out ‘n About specialist) really likes it when we have a bunch of helium-filled balloons delivered to the office —  he inhales the helium and then makes a dozen sales calls. We regularly bet on the outcome.

Any plans to change the name to Jimbo’s Digest? There’s a ring to it . . . Jimbo’s Digest does have a nice ring to it. But that would mean that mythical creature might wither away and die and we don’t want that. No, seriously, Uncle Andy’s Digest has been good to us.

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